40 
THE BUBAL filW-YOBKEB 
idea is not only abominable, but atrocious, in¬ 
asmuch as one of the greatest enemies our 
poultry men have to contend with is chicken 
cholera, a disease which is highly contagious 
and would without doubt be communicated 
to the fowls of their country, besides endan¬ 
gering the health of any one who might un¬ 
dertake to make a mt al off them. The game 
of the country would also be rendered liable 
to the disease. 
HELLEBORE FOR CURRANT WORMS. 
W. B. Alwood.Washington, D C.—Some 
time since the Rural kindly criticised my 
notes on insecticides where I recommended 
the use of a bellows and dry powder for cur¬ 
rant worms. I wish to say that I did not 
make the recommendation without personal 
knowledge of the work, as I had for several 
years been obliged to provide in some way for 
the destruction of these troublesome fellows. 
1 had always failed to succeed with the pow¬ 
der suspended in water until the past summer 
and now I see clearly that the reason was that 
I had no adequate machine for applying the 
liquid. The past sea-on I procured a good 
garden engine, mounted on wheels, with a 
strong force pump and excellent nozzle, the 
Climax, and found that it worked perfectly. 
With this apparatus I could apply the liquid 
rapidly’, and with such force that all parts of 
the bushes were reached and the powder thor¬ 
oughly adhered to them, and did not wash off 
nearly as easily as when appii( d dry. The 
worms were most thoroughly dispatched. One 
ounce of good powder to a gallon of cold water 
is sufficient. Nevertheless the bellows when 
properly used are very useful and successful, 
but for large growers do not compare with a 
garden engine. And of the engine, I want to 
emphatically add that the nozzle is the most 
important part. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
CARE OF SHEEP. 
Our farmers in this part of the country 
should have some sheep on their farms. Sheep 
pay as well as any stock, while they do not 
need as much care as cattle. They must be 
sheltered at this time of the year from the 
storm, as the wet makes them take cold and 
then they fall off in flesh, which will injure 
the lambs. I want the lambs to come about 
the first of May in our part of the country, as 
then the ewes are out at grass and it is warm. 
The lambs do not get chilled, the ewes have a 
full flow of milk and the lambs will grow 
much faster, as they do not get stunted. I 
find that the best feed in the winter is good, 
sweet, early-cut clover hay, without any grain, 
but every week they should have some potatoes 
or turnips and salt, and once a day’ good green 
cornstalks or corn fodder, as sheep like a 
change of feed. To do well they must have 
good, pure water. If it comes from the bot¬ 
tom of the well, so much the better, as then it 
is not ice-cold. They should not be compelled 
to eat snow and get chilled, for then it will 
take more feed to keep them. Sheep do not 
want too warm a place, but must be kept out 
of the wind. They should not have their feed 
throwui down on the ground w’here they' can 
run over it .and dirty it. I prefer a cross of 
the coarse Leicester on the South Dowd. This 
season my lambs did not come until after the 
first of May, and I did not lose one. I killed 
one five months and two days old that weighed, 
after it was dressed.87 pounds, and sold for 10 
cents a pound, and $1 for the pelt. The whole 
flock, wool and lambs, doubled once and one- 
third, and the manure I think will pay for the 
care of feeding them through the winter, if 
you have everything handy. 1 think every 
farmer should know' how to dress and sell his 
own stock where he is near enough to market 
to sell to consumers. Then he will always get 
the highest price, provided he is strictly hon¬ 
est. Then everything he has to sell will be in 
good demand. Andrew m. lagrange. 
Albany Co., N. Y. 
Fruit Items.— On the subject of winter 
protection to small fruits we have been giv¬ 
ing ourselves away quite freely of late years, 
yet I find our information has not reached 
every clime. In a late number of Green’s 
Fruit Grower is a lengthy editor¬ 
ial from Mr. Purdy, a life-long fruit¬ 
grower and nurseryman, on the subject 
of protecting tender blackberry plants by 
layering them, which has made many a Mich¬ 
igan fruit grower grin with' self-conceit. Now 
that the Agricultural Department has added 
to its other functions a division of pomology, 
we have reason to hope for some good work 
in this line. The Rural having taken the 
initial step in collecting fruit crop news in a 
limited way, I think it might be made a gen¬ 
eral medium for this purpose, by collecting 
from all the fruit centers reliable information 
in regard to the prospective crops as well as 
the gathered crops. Almost every paper in 
this country publishes a weekly re¬ 
sume of the outlook for the future 
crop of cereals, the amount in produc¬ 
ers’ hands, the amount in transit and the 
amount in store. But where in all this coun¬ 
try can we find even an attempt made to sum¬ 
marize similar information in regard to the 
horticultural productions of the land? The 
fruit interests of this country are hardly sec¬ 
ond to any other. The Rural, as far as it 
has gone in this line, has done a good work. I 
hope it will extend it and as far as possible in¬ 
troduce as many practicable features as time 
and space will permit. w. a. s. 
Benton Harbor, Mich. 
Likes the Rural.— The Rural has visited 
us every week for the past year, bringing us 
many good lessons and a kindly exchange of 
opinions or experiences. We appreciate the 
Rural and cannot see how any entei prising 
farmer who wants the best of everything can 
afford to do without it. We take quite a 
number of good papers, and we think it child¬ 
ish to say this or that paper is the best of all, 
for they are all good and fill the various pur¬ 
poses for which we need them. The Rural, 
as an agricultural paper, and as a bold and 
fearless advocate of farmers’ rights, stands at 
the bead with me: others may like other pa¬ 
pers better. One feature of the Rural that 
makes us feel as a family is that it not only 
allows, but invites, its readers to a friendly 
exchange of experiences through its pages 
This 1 think very important, as it brings us 
nearer together, and we can all feel that the 
Rural is our paper. And now readers of the 
Rural, as the new year is here, let us look at 
the little girl, Hope, in the last picture the 
Rural gave us in the old year, and enter upon 
our duties for the ensuing year with a greater 
determination to make it a success. Let us be 
more faithful in every respect, and, above all, 
let us have more faith in the Great Giver of 
all good gifts. F. s. white. 
Polk County, Iowa. 
Early Lambs. —This is my third winter at 
raising early lambs. I now have 46 and have 
not lost one. I raise them according to Mr. 
Woodward’sinstructions. Last year 1 sold at 
12%, 11 and 9 cents, and it paid me very well. 
This year I expect to have 125. Will have 
none after March 1st. I had lambs last year 
three months and a half old that weighed 
over 60 pounds. m. m. wilson. 
Belle Vernon, Pa. 
0y.m}in!jcrc. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Illinois. 
Arlington, Bureau Co , Dec. 26.—We have 
been visited with one of the driest seasons, 
if not the driest, in the history of the State. 
The drought set in over two years ago, but last 
year it did not affect us so much and we raised 
a fair average crop of almost every produce 
except potatoes which were about half a crop. 
This year potatoes have been almost an entire 
failure, wheat about half a crop but of good 
quality, rye two-thirds of a crop of fair qual¬ 
ity, oats half a crop, corn would average half 
a crop to take the county over: in some 
localities it was almost a failure, not averaging 
20 bushels per acre. Apples were scarce 
except Willow Twigs which are heavily load¬ 
ed—but I call that a very poor apple. We 
have had no rain to speak of since June 26. 
Every body is short of water and almost 
every farmer has sunk new wells. j. w. 
Iowa. 
Alden, Hardin Co., Jan 2.—We are now 
having winter weather. It has been very 
stormy for the last two w'eeks. We, in this 
part of the Stale, were much more fortunate 
than some of your correspondents in Iowa. 
Our crops were remarkably good considering 
the fact that the drought was very severe. 
Water is still very scarce for stock. The hol¬ 
iday trade was proof that farmers have made 
more this year than for several years past 
The fact that we had the best corn crop for 
eight years., together with the prices that it, 
and its product (pork), bring is cheering to 
the farmer. Corn is now worth 35 cents, 
oats 23 cents, potatoes 75 cents, hay (baled) 
$6 50, hogs $5.10 per 100 pounds, cattle very 
low', m to two cents per pound. Although 
we have had the “Disasters of the Old,” w r e 
are cheered by your representation of “Hopes 
of the New' Year.” e. c R. 
Michigan. 
Glenn, Allegan Co., January S.—We are 
having a very favorable winter here so far. 
We have had considerable snow and wind in 
the last two weeks, but no very cold weather, 
the mercury ranging from 10 to 16 above zero. 
Our chief occupation here is fruit raising and 
w’hen the mercury drops below zero every one 
is deeply concerned,for we are not safe in our 
business with the mercury much lower than 
12 below. We have just received reports 
from the several ports and stations where our 
peaches are shipped from and I thought they 
might be read with interest by some of the 
readers of R. N-Y. We use four sizes of bas¬ 
kets and baskets only: bushel, half-bushel, 
peck, and fifth. This includes the number of 
all the baskets: East Saugatuck, 8.369; New 
Richmond, 58,872; Fennville. 250,029: Sauga¬ 
tuck, 290,369; Duglass, 271,176; Piercove, 336,- 
730; Glenn, 540,029; South Haven, 220,027; 
Bravo, 690.045. The next season should give 
us a crop from about 50,000 trees that hereto¬ 
fore have borne no fruit for want of proper 
age and the present prospect is very flattering. 
The buds are large and numerous, the wood 
w'ent into winter well ripened and certainly 
is in splendid condition to stand the most ex¬ 
treme weather. Our apple crop was a large 
one but, as we predicted earlier, they have not 
been keeping well. They could have been 
bought for 25 cents anywhere here in the fall, 
and now they are scarce at one dollar per 
bushel. N. e. E. 
Fennfiy l^anla. 
Fisherville, Dauphin County—Times 
are dull here. Prices are low for produce 
now, but were good last year. Prices at Jan¬ 
uary 4, 1888, were: butter 20 cents, eggs 20 
cents; poultry, chicks seven cents per pound; 
live weight, turkeys nine and 10 cents. Pota¬ 
toes, 50 to (50 cents: wheat, 75 to 85 cents; 
oats, 30 cents; rye, 53; corn, 45 cents. Cows 
low, from $20 to $35; horses high. I have 
the average price of butter and eggs for four 
years at Millersburg, Pa., where we sell our 
produce: Butter, 1884, 17 cents; 1885, 16% 
cents; 1886, 16%cents; 1887,19% cents. Eggs, 
1884, 14 1-6 cents; 1885, 20 cents; 1886, 14 
cents; 1887, 13% cents. c. p. s. 
Evans-City, Butler Co., Dec. 27.— Wheat 
was about two-thirds of a crop, rye a failure, 
oats not good, corn half a crop, potatoes a 
failure. It was too dry; there has been no 
soaking rain since the middle of June. The 
springs and wells are very low and water 
for cattle is very scarce. J. a. c. 
Available Plant Food in Fertilizers; 
Special Fertilizers; Fertilizers for 
Seeding Down and Hoed Crops.— In ad¬ 
vanced sheets of a pamphlet to be issued by 
the Bowker Fertilizer Co., we find data that 
should interest many of our readers. Dr. 
Voelcker, chemist of the Royal Agricultural 
Society of England, has said that he would 
rather have one per cent, of nitrogen in the 
shape of sulphate of ammonia than six percent, 
in the shape of powered leather. Sir J. B. 
Lawes has also said that the differences in form 
in which these substances, potash, phosphoric 
acid and nitrogen, are met with, greatly af¬ 
fect their value. The present method of an¬ 
alyzing manures does not properly recognize 
these distinctions, and the valuations founded 
upon these analyses are altogether false and 
erroneous. 
In the feeding of animals, we do not carry 
the same sort of food to the horse, pig, milch 
cow and fat ox. It is true that we feed the 
same elements, but they are in varying forms 
adapted to the production of fat or muscle, 
milk or beef; so in feeding crops,, we feed to 
each practically the same elements (nitrogen 
phosphoric acid and potash), which are ob¬ 
tained from certain general sources; but in 
these general sources of supply there are 
varying forms, the same as in the food supply 
for man and beast. For example, in feeding 
grains to animals we have the forms of oat, 
barley, corn, bran, shorts, cotton-seed meal, 
etc., and these are fed according as they suit 
different animals. So in feeding plants, one 
form of nitrogen (nitrate of soda, say) is bet¬ 
ter for some crops than that obtained from 
sulphate of ammonia. The same is true of 
potash, the sulphate, for example, being bet¬ 
ter for fruits, than the muriate. 
Manure for seeding dow n and fertilizers for 
hoed crops, the above pamphlet goes on to 
say, should be the rule of every farmer who 
keeps stock. Fertilizers for seeding down 
grass land may be lasting and pernanent in 
their effects, but they cannot equal good stable 
manure made from fat cattle or cattle that are 
fed upon rich foods. That is the kind of stuff 
to seed down grass lands especially fields easy 
of access. This kind of manure is usually too 
slow in its action for quick-growing crops. It 
costs too much now-a-days to compost it and 
JAN 21 
make it available for crops. Therefore it 
should be plowed or cultivated in at the time 
of seeding down in much lirger quantities 
than is customary. It- puts the soil in excel¬ 
lent mechanical condition for grass roots, and 
feeds them for a longer time than it is possible 
to feed them with concentrated fertilizers. 
On the other haud, fertilizers are better on 
hoed crops because they can be applied in such 
quantities as are required to grow any par¬ 
ticular crop, and in such forms aud conditions 
as will best act upon that crop. For example, 
a potato fertilizer prepared especially for this 
crop is surer of producing a larger crop of 
better quality than stable manure, aud it is 
much more easily applied, and, furthermore, 
is free from weed seeds. Moreover, if it is 
necessary to force the crop during the grow ing 
season, the fertilizers can be applied more 
easily than stable manure. In other words, a 
quick-growing crop can not only be fed with 
the right sort of food, but can be frequently 
cheered up and encouraged with additional 
fertilizer if the condition of the crop and the 
season seem to require it. 
Too Many Windows.— Professor Walters 
says, in the Industrialist, that ODe of the most 
common mistakes made in building small resi¬ 
dences is the addition of useless windows, sim¬ 
ply for looks, i. e., to produce the appearance 
of increased size. A window in a frame 
building costs from three to five times aud in 
a stone building from three to ten times as 
much as the full wall. The inside draperies, 
the repairs, frequent cleaning, etc., of win¬ 
dows, are sources of constant expense. Small 
rooms with more than two or three windows 
are bard to warm and inconvenient for the 
proper placing of furniture. Of course there 
should be enough windows to give plenty of 
light, and a good chance for thorough venti¬ 
lation; but it seems foolish to sacrifice conve¬ 
nience, health and money to mere looks, espe¬ 
cially because the latter can be produced by 
other and more legitimate means. 
WHICH MAY REMIND YOU. 
Some of the new catalogues are praising 
the “new Brazilian Flour Corn” in away that 
will certainly deceive many who try it in 
other than an experimental way. Here are 
some of the claims made for it: 
“This, no doubt the greatest novelty ever 
introduced, originated in Brazil, whcie it con¬ 
stitutes the principal iocd of its iuhaUtants. 
It grows eight feet high, and from one kernel 
sends enough stools to produce 100ears! Think 
of it, 100 ears from one kernel of seed! Its 
strong points are: 
1. T weuty-five barrels of flour can be grown 
from one acre, and this flour is of as fine a 
grade as is made of Dakota hard wheat which 
is five times as much as wheat produces per 
acre. 
2. The bread and biscuit baked therefrom 
are fully as palatable as from any flour 
known! 
3. When boiled in a green state it has no su¬ 
perior among sweet corns, while its yield is 
thrice that of sweet corn! 
4. Matures in all latitudes where corn rip¬ 
ens. 
5. Be ready to take the tide to fortune, for 
there is a fortune in this flour corn. 
6. Cultivate as you would corn, allowing 
two kernels to grow to a hill. 
7 On our own grounds it yielded at the rate 
of 100 bushels green- fodder for cattle, of the 
most delicious, sweet, tender, juicy, nutritious 
food we have ever seen. Indeed to us it seems 
as though this will soon lauk as the greatest 
fodder producing plant in the world!” 
The Rural tried this two years ago, as our 
readers should remember. It v, ill not mature 
in this climate. It does not sucker more than 
flint varieties, while the proportion of leaves 
to stalk is less. It is not a good sweet corn. 
It bears from two to five and six ears to a 
stalk—but the ears are small. We know noth¬ 
ing of its flouring qualities . 
C. M. Clay, says in Colman’s Rural World, 
that there are two leading races of sheep in 
the United States—the SouthDoven and the 
Merino. The first is especially a mutton sheep, 
the last a wool-beariug sheep. For wool the 
SoutliDown is inferior but little to the Merino 
—aud its fleece is fit for the finest cloths—be¬ 
ing only less in quantity than the Merino to a 
given weight of carcass; whilstthe SoutbDown 
is the best mutton in the world, and has the 
most meat on the best points. The Merino 
may be the most profitable in hilly lands with 
sparse vegetation, but for temperate climes and 
heavy feeding the SoutbDown is the sheep... 
Does the sheep degenerate in America? 
General Clay learns that the best bucks of the 
Merino breed of the North eastern States are 
sought for all over the world. How about the 
SoutbDowns? He believes he is the oldest 
breeder offSouthDowusin America, bavingbe- 
gun his flock in 1855, from the importations of 
the Thornes, of New York, and Robert Alex¬ 
ander, of Woodburn, Kentucky. In all these 
years he has nearly doubled the weight of the 
fleece aud carcass and no contagious diseases 
have ever invaded his flock. In the meantime 
the wool has increased in fineness and spread 
